Beam Suntory Opens a New Book

But this is not a typical American blend. It is all straight whiskey, with no neutral spirit. Each year, Freddie will select a different blend. It will be packaged in the same bottle as Booker’s Bourbon and, like Booker’s, it will be uncut and unfiltered.

Freddie says the goal is to “create something different, a one-of-a-kind taste profile that people haven’t experienced before.”

Mission accomplished!

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The key to experiencing Little Book ‘The Easy’ is to not expect it to taste like bourbon. It doesn’t. The long-aged corn whiskey dominates the profile, grainy and grassy like corn is supposed to be, but tempered by its long time in reused wood. (The other three whiskeys were all aged in new, charred oak.) Malt provides creamy nuttiness, rye a little background spice, and the bourbon provides body and richness. It is thick and viscous, almost syrupy, and surprisingly easy to drink even at its full 120.48° proof (60.24% ABV).

Some bourbon signifiers are there, caramel in particular. A little water brings it out.

This is a bit of a gamble for Beam. Little book is not the first ‘Class A’ blend of the modern era, but it arrives with a lot of fanfare and is a lot of weight to put on a young man’s shoulders. But Freddie is a big man, like his father and grandfather. I think he can handle it.

Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with the permission of its author.